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Top Homeowner Renovations that Never Pay Off
Homeowners often want to renovate their property and they often wonder if they will get their money back. Of course, items such as painting and flooring will be a good investment. However, certain items will be very difficult for the homeowner to get the money back when they sell the home.
1) High-End Kitchen Upgrades:
You may love to cook and you may have built your neighborhood's most beautiful kitchen but it doesn't mean that you will get your money back. Your very high-end appliances may not be as valuable to other people because they may not have the same tastes or hobbies as you.
My neighbor down the block invested a lot of money in her kitchen. She decided to make it look like something you might see on a culinary show because she loves to cook, complete with Italian marble and an expensive stove that probably requires a degree to operate. It was very stylish. However, when trying to sell, she discovered that the people in her region were only interested in something straightforward and useful. She established a high price to cover those nice renovations, but they weren't biting. In the end, she did not receive quite as much as she contributed. She had probably spent $75,000 to upgrade her kitchen, but she only got half her money back when she sold.
2) Over-Improving for the Neighborhood
Renovating your home to the point where it becomes the most expensive property in the neighborhood is risky. Buyers looking in a specific area have a budget in mind and might not consider a home that's priced well above others in the same vicinity, no matter the upgrades.
I once knew a guy and he built a house and he made it the biggest and grandest house on the block. The entire upper level was just one massive bedroom with an ensuite washroom and one massive walk-in closet. Of course, it was cool and it was very neat to visit him at his house, but he did not have any children so he didn't need to worry about having extra bedrooms. However, the average family who would buy a house in that area would probably have children and would need to have extra bedrooms instead of a massive walking closet and a massive bathroom. He ended up having a very difficult time selling the place because the layout wasn't workable for most families.
3) Complex Landscaping
While doing some landscaping can improve the overall curb appeal, If you are overly complex in the landscaping, it can chase potential buyers away. For most people, lots of flowers and plants mean a lot of maintenance and with so many people constrained for time these days a lot of people would rather do without the hassle of maintaining these items.
I was told by a friend that she knew somebody who created an incredible garden in her backyard that was spectacular. Being a retired landscape architect, she went all out adding real fish to the pond and exotic plants. She was happy and proud of it. However, when life forced her to relocate, the typical buyer found it to be a bit too much. They all loved looking at it but thought it'd be too much work to keep up. She had to drop her price quite a bit to make the sale. It was pretty rough seeing her let go of her dream garden for less. The new buyer actually ended up hiring somebody to take out the pond and all that lovely landscaping that she put in.
4) Luxurious Bathrooms:
Similar to kitchen renovations, if you go overboard and spend too much on your bathroom renovations, you certainly will not be able to make your money back.
Certain items such as whirlpools tubs or steam showers are really expensive to build and maintain, and the new buyer may not have the use for such luxurious items.
5) Wall-to-Wall Carpeting:
Some people really like carpeting and there is some really expensive carpeting that is sold on the market and a lot of people who install carpeting will never get their money back. People nowadays like simplicity, ease of cleaning and durability. If you look at many of the decor magazines most places nowadays have either laminate flooring or hardwood flooring. An area of rug here and there would work nicely especially if you throw it in and blend it with the laminate in the hardwood floors of the house,but if the entire home is made of carpet on its floors, it can be unsightly, viewed as high maintenance, allergic for many people, and therefore undesirable to many buyers.